I’m what you call an optimist. I like to look on the bright side, keep an open mind, and count my blessings.
So, after my photography business failed last winter year, I woke up one morning and remembered the kid that sold us our water heater and thought, why not? I can do that as well as he does, better even. The gas company happened to be hiring and here I am. It doesn’t bother me that I’m older than most of the sales staff. I’ve got a lot of experience under my belt. I’ve been around the block, you could say, which makes me good at my job, because I know what it’s like to have to count your pennies and balance out competing demands. I’ve got four kids, and they all want something all the time. These guys and gals I work with are still wet behind the ears and figure the homeowner is going to go high-end if they’re pressured enough, but that’s not how people work, is it? People like a fair, honest deal.
Starting over in life is never easy and I tell the wife we’re going to be okay, we won’t lose the house, no one’s going to starve. The photography business wasn’t the first wall we ever hit. I used to work on an assembly line installing auto glass, then the company outsourced everything overseas. My wife was working as a receptionist in a law firm and my being unemployed hit her hard. It’s a scary thing, being the sole breadwinner. Really kept her up at night. It didn’t help that she…
